


Salt

by Leuven



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Angst, Attempt at Humor, Complicated Relationships, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Made For Each Other, Secret Messages
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24885862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leuven/pseuds/Leuven
Summary: Seb had tried to hate him, it was such a comforting thing hate, so fulfilling, so easy.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Sebastian Vettel
Comments: 13
Kudos: 34





	Salt

**Author's Note:**

> Hii 😉
> 
> This story had been in my mind for too long and it simply had to go out; it's my first story with these two so I truly hope you will like it. Any comments, suggestions... and you'll make my day ❤️. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!
> 
> It's a multichapter story so..mooore to come!

He had a dream life, he really did and was totally aware of that, but going to the office on a Monday sounded as appealing to him as for the rest of the mortals. After endless negotiations, ridiculous contracts and tons of rumours they hadn't reached any agreements so, unfortunately, that was it, one more season, one last dance.

The end felt bitter and heavy, like the impossibly long outro of a bad song that you don't seem to be able to skip. The last few months hadn't been easy, to put it mildly; to be completely honest they had felt like a nightmare most of the time. He had tried so hard, he had given so much of himself, he had done everything but it had always felt like it was either not enough or too much.

Life had been sweet and happy until he had arrived. They were a small, tight-knit, wildly dysfunctional but happy family where he was the spoilt child, the king of the castle; when another kid came to play with his toys, life turned sour. He was not the little sunshine anymore, but the frustrated former world champion incapable of returning to his past glory. He had really tried to like him, to make his life as easy as possible by getting along but his new team mate was too good, well, he was brilliant, and he hadn't come to make any friends but to fight as an equal. A few months into the season and everyone was already taken in by the new kid on the block: take his raw talent, his unrestrained passion, his endless energy, and his undiluted ambition and add some wildly handsome looks and a disarming smile, _voilà_ , the hero the team was looking for. As if that was not enough, he also spoke perfect Italian, the charming bastard.

He had had to come to the office to sign a few documents, finish some paperwork and then he would be free, free to burn all his red polo shirts at the end of the season and move on.

After all the negotiations were broken and the possibility of a new contract was definitely out of the table the first emotion he felt was anger, a sticky, all-consuming anger that threatened to come out. You know when you are drunk and your friends try to convince you not to text your ex? Well in this case he was not drunk, but angry and resentful, and it was not his ex on speed dial but Bild and he was sure they would appreciate a good scoop. Needless to say, the team had not been happy about it, if there was something these people hated that was leaks, so he was basically an enemy of the red empire now. After his successor was announced and the dust had settled, he felt they had mostly forgiven him for his rather public indiscretion and he seemed to be making his way back into the good books. Look, it was the last season, no point in staining it with some reckless mistake product of a prolonged period of tension; big hug and move on. All in the name of a good atmosphere, of course, and the chance to convince him to please follow team orders, otherwise this last season would be war.

Once the papers were signed, hands socially-distancedly shaken and smiles and other pleasantries exchanged, a particular mix of fear and exhilaration took over, everything would be ending in a few months and what the hell was he gonna do? Look whatever, still time to decide. He moved his fingers, slowly trying to relieve the tingly sensation building around the tips, and reached for the car keys buried deep in his pocket.

An obnoxious bark of laughter followed by some words in high-pitched Italian took him out of his reveries. They told him he wouldn't be there, well, of course they didn't promise he wouldn't but they had casually mentioned he was supposed to be on holidays, if there was such a thing in these Corona times. But no, he was clearly not on holidays, unless coming to annoy the shit out of him from a distance was the new definition of holidays. He had started walking quicker trying to ignore the commotion caused by his team mate when all of a sudden there he was, the man himself, hardly containing his laughter, talking to someone he could not recognize.

Seb turned around on his heels, _ok_ he would look for another way out of the building, when he heard a too familiar voice calling his name. Look, all good, but he could really do without talking to his team mate right now, so he kept his air pods on and kept walking, faster this time; his name kept chasing him as well as Charles and Seb kept ignoring him and looking for new corridors where to lose him until he found the door to some service staircase, success! Without a second thought, he pulled the door handle sharply and rushed downstairs. The plan would have been a total triumph had it not been for the abrupt ending to his escape; as soon as he opened a random door 3 floors down, he came face to face with an all smiles Charles, _well fuck_.

"Ahh, there you are! Trying to escape, eh?"

 _Guilty as charged_. He was aware that his face must have been an amusing mixture of panic, confusion and pure _oh fuck_ , so he just stuck with the original plan: _leave_.

"Hi, I.. " Seb looked at his phone not entirely sure why "I .. I didn't expect to see you here..." _I really didn't expect to see you here and now that I have seen you I just wish to leave without having to talk to you._

Charles showed a warm, wide smile. "Fancy a coffee? We could catch up..."

For a moment Seb felt guilty but for his own sake he knew he needed to leave. He muttered a half honest _Sorry_.

"I'm really in a rush and I have a few calls to make. See you soon, ok?"

He didn't wait for a reply and left the building as if it was on fire. Once he reached the parking and was making the way to his car, he realized he had an interesting neighbour: it was probably the most pretentious car around and that was quite a statement for such a place. He caressed the tip of his car key and imagined how good it would look sliding along the side of Charles' car, a total work of art. The only con of the plan was the more than likely possibility that he was gonna be given another car which would be even newer, nicer, bigger, more expensive than the previous one so, nah, his artistic side would have to wait. As soon as he turned the key on the ignition switch and the car made that smooth, familiar vibration, he allowed himself to fully breathe again.

A few weeks later, Seb was having a sweet little snooze in his sofa, because what else are you supposed to do when there is nothing you can do?, when his phone vibrated quietly against the wood of the coffee table. At first he didn't register the sound but after a few seconds he realized it was his work phone, his personal one was never on silent mode. He felt so relaxed and comfortable that he simply ignored the message; since they were not racing for a good few months yet, whatever it was could wait. After a couple of hours, he was around the kitchen getting busy with dinner and this time he didn't hear the phone vibrate with a new incoming message. It was not until before bed when he was brushing his teeth and checking his messages that he discovered who seemed so eager to hear from him and...oh! if it wasn't his team mate!

 **From C [16:28]** : I hope you made it home safely

C, yes, that was Charles, he couldn't be bothered to write his full name so there you go, C. Seb stopped brushing his teeth and leaned on the sink, toothbrush clamped between his teeth and a trickle of tooth paste threatening to run down his chin. There was a second message.

 **From C [19:03]** : How's lockdown treating you?

Seb was aware that by all rules and regulations of courtesy and politeness, he should have been the one writing first, since he had so blatantly ignored him the last time they had seen each other, however, he didn't really know what to say. _Yeah, I'm great, having the time of my life without seeing you._

Truth was that he was dying to get back in the car but he couldn't deny the benefits of such long parenthesis. He got to spend a lot of quality time with the family, he was sleeping better than ever and for the first time in a long time he found the pleasures of not having to compete with anyone, god it felt good this civilian life.

When the mint from his toothpaste started to burn his tongue, he quickly locked his phone, finished brushing and rinsed his mouth with a generous amount of water while thinking what to reply. In the end he got into bed thinking...tomorrow.

Tomorrow turned into the day after and they day after into Saturday and no message had been responded after a week. His team mate didn't seem to have taken his silence the wrong way as a new message came in a few days after:

 **From C** **[10:42]:** Really miss the track but I guess I can't complain.

The message was accompanied by a sunny picture of a view over the sea. Not bad. Once again, the message was left in read but not replied. And once again his team mate didn't seem to mind as another message made its way a few days after.

There was a certain flattering quality to Charles' insistence, the rising star, the golden boy in and away of the grids, eagerly messaging him only to be left in read and ignored. Seb was sure there was an element of pride in all of this as well, a certain level of _How dare you do this to me? How dare you ignore me?_ But the messages would keep coming in, even a couple of calls did, and the result would always be the same: silence on the other side.

Seb had tried to hate him, it was such a comforting thing hate, so fulfilling, so easy. Hate was like salt, everything else would evaporate but it would stay like a bitter and heavy sediment in the heart.

He had been dethroned, overshadowed by this new prince. At this point he wouldn't even be surprised of being the court jester. He couldn't even muster the word, the _prince_ , it would get stuck in his throat, it would feel like a mouthful of venom against his tongue, nauseating, deadly.

He had tried to hate him, to blame him for all of his misfortunes and it had felt so powerful, so liberating, until at some point it hadn't anymore; he started feeling sick, as if all this intense and never-ending hatred was rotting him from inside.

He had to let go, god knows it was not easy, but his life couldn't be reduced to spending his days drowning in despise for his team mate. They had definitely had their bad moments, and their terrible ones, but there had also been good moments so it was a start. It was not that they were friends but Seb had started tolerating his team mate and fuck, he felt like a new man, they were even messaging! Well, Charles was messaging him and he was ignoring him but still enjoying (maybe a tad bit too much) the attention.

Charles had many virtues, one of them being that he always got what he wanted; Seb knew and was more than willing to test his limits and see what he was capable of to get his bit of attention back.

**Author's Note:**

> What will our dear C do to get a bit of Seb's attention? Coming soon...😉
> 
> There will be more chapters coming soon


End file.
